Faith

Does God curse us? Thursday, 2nd week of Lent – Jeremiah 17:5-10/Luke 16:19-31

Read also https://www.pottypadre.com/the-colour-purple/ which is a reflection based on the Gospel

We live in a world where blessings are sought after. Our cultural expressions that seek a blessing may wary but the desire is the same. Whether you touch someone’s feet or join the palms of your hand or kiss a ring with reverence, the desire is simply to receive a blessing from God through your elders, teachers or a religious person.

No one actively seeks a curse or for that matter no one seeks even a negative stroke. Such a person will strike us as odd, to say the least. So, when God curses the nation of Judah one is forced to sit up and ask, why?

At the heart of it all is the lack of ‘trust’ in Yahweh. At this time on the world stage, Assyria was declining and Egypt and Babylon were each trying to dominate the fertile crescent. There were many fierce battles and many great cities fell. Judah was quite obviously anxious for its future as a nation. Jeremiah warns Judah’s leaders not to form an alliance with Egypt against the Babylonians, rather to trust in the Lord, not in political and military alliances.

Sadly, Judah had reached a point where she put all her trust in man-made security systems. Instead of walls she made deals with other countries. The nations dealings had become their god. All their energy, their loyalty and resources were directed toward the preservation of deals which were self-serving and built on fear rather than faith. As it turned out, the attempt to fight back prompted the Babylonians to tighten their grip, eventually destroying the city and temple and sending the Judeans, including Jeremiah, into exile.

The scripture text of today exhorts us to trust in the Lord and not in man made deals. Those who trust in the Lord are blessed because their roots are tapped into the stream of life. Trusting in the Lord does not take away the storms of life. Clearly, those trust in the Lord (verse7) will face ‘the heat.’ Trusting does not give us an iron shield of protection. Yet because we choose to trust, we, like the tree planted by the stream, will continue to be nourished even when the drought comes (not if the drought comes). Our leaves will continue to be green (verse 8).

To have roots is not to make deals with God. God is not a wheeler-dealer. To have roots is to keep our faith strong no matter what life brings us. We keep our roots strong by being in dialogue with God every day, not just in the foxholes. Fox hole conversions don’t last long. God needs our devotion always. When that happens, we will have life-long security.

Ironically verse 9 tells us which way the heart of Judah succumbed. They had a choice between a curse and a blessing and they still chose the curse. What we fail to understand so often in our lives is that what we desire is often not what we need.

So, did God curse Judah? It is not God who cursed Judah as much as they made a choice to call the curse upon themselves. It is for this reason that Jeremiah dwells on the ‘heart’ in verse nine. He calls the heart devious and perverse. For what else would you call one that choses to bite the hand that is raised in blessing? But then again, the prophet Jeremiah in poetic yet practical wisdom describes the leanings of men. ‘Sin’ he says, ‘makes its mark upon the human heart, with the force of an iron pen and the depth of a diamond point. (17:1) The point of the metaphors is not the hardness of the materials used, but the indelible nature of what is written.

God on the other hand, searches, tests, and knows the heart and mind. It is wise to trust what God says about us more than what we think or feel about ourselves. Jeremiah was preaching to anyone who would listen. Those who took his words to heart made sure their lives had well-watered roots. The invitation to all of us in the season of Lent is for us to water our roots.

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Faith

Why not me Lord? – Wednesday, 2nd Week of Lent – Jeremiah 18:18-20/ Matthew 20:17-28

Read also https://www.pottypadre.com/mrs-zebedde/ based on the Gospel of today

Jeremiah was not loved by the people he ministered to. When you read the book, you would clearly see that ‘not being loved’ was an understatement; he was hated! Hate is a very strong word to use. When used for another person, it indicates a tremendous dislike for another. To arrive at the word hate you need to pile up several superlatives that are negative. Jeremiah found himself at the end of a very long rope of love that God had extended to his people. That rope had now become for him a noose!

Jeremiah preached during the reigns of five kings, from the reforms under King Josiah through the exile under King Zedekiah. Living during a time of political and religious upheaval, Jeremiah is called to speak an uncomfortable word, a dangerous word, a word that will call people to account. At the start of the book, Jeremiah is given a vocation “to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” His critique will leave none unscathed. The book makes it quite apparent that Jeremiah is called to deliver a message that is both difficult and unwelcome.

Obviously, his message did not endear him to his people. He was put into stocks, thrown into a pit, mocked and derided. Many people called for his execution on charges of treason. He was deeply unpopular. When he passed by in the marketplace, people pointed at him and laughed.

Not only does Jeremiah protest that he has become a “laughingstock” and an object of mockery, he accuses God of enticing and overpowering him (20:7). Like Job, he laments the day of his birth.

This is a job that Jeremiah neither seeks nor welcomes. In chapter one Jeremiah cited his young age and objects to what he clearly saw as a difficult task. God, however, will not let Jeremiah’s youth stand in the way of sending a message that the people of Israel need to hear, even if they do not want to hear it.

Jeremiah’s life was about something bigger than himself, something bigger than his own desires; it was about God’s work, and God claimed him even before he was born. God calls him to a life lived for the sake of God’s mission in the world. That is what God does with many of us; he calls us to challenging missions. Missions in Church, at our workplace, in the family and so on. Yet the book clearly tells us that Jeremiah would not be alone and by extension neither are we.

Interestingly, while God regularly seeks people to do his will, the Bible highlights how God seeks young people in particular for divine work. Jacob, Joseph, Miriam, Gideon, Joshua, Samuel, David, Daniel, Shadrack, Meshack, Abednego, Mary, Jarius’ daughter, Timothy, and Jesus at age twelve were all young when they too encountered the divine.

If it is God’s mission; God will provide us with the words to speak as he did with Jeremiah. Even more, God will be with us in the midst of every struggle. We need to say yes to his call, challenging as it may be.

Today, pray for young people to say to Jesus.

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Faith

Hit the reboot button – Tuesday, 2nd week of Lent – Isaiah 1:10,16-20/Matthew 23:1-12

Read also https://www.pottypadre.com/catching-the-bull-by-its-tail/ based on the Gospel of today.

God’s love is often assumed to be unconditional; in reality it is not. Primarily, we share a relationship with God and while all relationships come with expectations, God’s love is no exception. However, God’s love does not make unreasonable demands such that one who shares in this relationship would not be able to fulfil. In fact, if you look at it, God sets the bar really low when it comes to our commitment. Yet to believe that God loves us unconditionally is foolish and unreasonable and if I dare say is rather unhealthy for any relationship. Yet we can also testify to his forgiveness each time we err.

The reading from Isaiah, which is taken from the first chapter, seems to have two groups of people whom God is addressing; Judah and Jerusalem on one hand and Sodom and Gomorrah on the other. In reality. Sodom and Gomorrah were long destroyed by God in the book of Genesis, chapter 19. Yet the people of Israel took some pride in believing that they were some sort of righteous remanent of a sinful nation whom God saved. They lived in the delusion that their burnt offerings of bulls and the blood of lambs and goats delighted God. He on the other hand was disgusted by it and in verse 14 he says, “your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates.” Read this in Hebrew and the word ‘hate’ translates as nausea; such was the disgust of God for the ‘sacrifices’ of his people.

Lent is a time when we too make sacrifices; we may not offer sacrifices but we make a sacrifice. Yet it is not what we do in Lent but who we become that matters to God. The sacrifices of the people of Israel had become to God a “burden,” one that he was “weary of bearing.” (Isaiah 1:15) God clearly says to his people, “when you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood.”

It is for this reason that the text of today begins with an exhortation to all of us to “wash ourselves clean.” Covid taught us to wash our hands and scrub it clean. That’s how God wants us to approach lent. This is not a time to clean soiled souls with a wet towel but rather to drench ourselves in the mercy of God. God does not request but demands that our being is good not just our doing. He demands in the reading of today, that we cease to do evil and learn to do good.

We were made in the image and likeness of God but tarnished by original sin. It is for this reason that goodness does not come to us; goodness must be a learnt behaviour. God says to us, “learn to do good.” The evil one has so poisoned us that we are prone to doing evil faster than we even think of doing good. Lent is a time to hit the reboot button to become what God intended us to be.

I began by saying that God’s love is not unconditional but his forgiveness is offered ever so readily. That is seen in today’s reading once again. “Come” he says “let us discuss and argue it out,” you and me. “Though your sins are like scarlet they shall be like snow. Though they are red like crimson they shall become like wool….. IF you are willing, IF you are obedient. (Is 1:18-19)

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Confession from the heart – Monday, 2nd Week of Lent – Daniel 9:4b-10/ Luke 6:36-38

Read also https://www.pottypadre.com/six-pack-coming-soon-2/ based on the Gospel of today.

When this text of scripture was proclaimed, the Babylonian Empire had fallen, just as Daniel predicted in the vision of the multi-metallic statue. The Persians had taken control of the Chaldean (Babylonian) Empire. Persia had donned the mantle of global supremacy and this was a dual kingship for while Cyrus was the King of the Empire (6:28) Darius ruled Babylon and the area connected with it. (6:6)

Daniel, meditating on the word of God as spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, realized that the seventy years of exile as prophesied by Jeremiah had come to an end. Daniel turns to the Lord in prayer confessing the guilt of the entire nation imploring his mercy for the people.

Time and time again the people of Israel had broken the covenant that God made with them both in Exodus and in Deuteronomy 26:16-19. Daniel knew the problem was not with God. Daniel did not make the slightest excuse for Israel’s sin. He knew the fault belonged to Israel and Israel alone. When we look into our lives we realise that we are prone to make excuses for our sin and often even make excuses in our “confessions.” Sin must be confessed in its totality with no strings attached.

With the most sincere heart Daniel confesses the sins of the people. “We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly, we have rebelled, we have turned aside from your commandments and ordinances, we have not listened to your servants the prophets.” (Dt 9:4-6)

Using a phrase that could only be translated as ‘shame on us’ he confesses the everlasting and great God who is merciful and forgiving. Daniel does not hold back the sin of the nation and nor should we. The season of Lent is that period when we recognize our wicked ways in the face of an every loving God. We remember our promises to repent and change, to be devoted to God, to serve him; yet when our ‘work is done’, He, God almighty, is forgotten and we go back to our wicked ways.

Genuine confession must be sincere, specific, and thorough. At a revival meeting in Brazil a woman in a crowded church confessed, “Please pray for me, I need to love people more.” The leader told her gently, “That is not a confession, sister. Anyone could have said it.” Later in the service the lady stood again and said, “Please pray for me. What I should have said is that my sharp tongue has caused a lot of trouble in this congregation.” The pastor smiling said, “Now she is talking!”

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Lent – not for a season but for all and every reason – Saturday, 1st Week of Lent – Deuteronomy 26:16-19/ Matthew 5:43-48

Read also https://www.pottypadre.com/hell-is-not-my-neighbour/ based on the Gospel

The people of Israel were on the threshold of entering the promised land having wandered in the desert for forty years. Moses gathered the people so that they may learn and obey carefully what God wanted to say to them (5:1). This very lengthy exposition ends in 26:15, a verse before the text of today’s first reading.

In this lengthy exposition, Moses recounts God’s faithfulness and the unfaithfulness of the people of Israel. He sets forth His expectations for their life in Canaan. Now the time has come for Israel to ‘own’ the covenant for herself. ‘Owning’ the covenant requires Israel to pledge her loyalty to the One who, in a very real sense, created her.

Moses clearly functions as a mediator between the LORD and Israel. In a style consistent with covenant agreements, he summarizes in the presence of both parties what Israel has acknowledged as one partner to the covenant and what the LORD has declared as the other partner. There appears a striking mutuality of covenant partnership and obligation. Like wife and husband, Israel and the LORD are speaking vows to each other.

Moses reminds the people of the solemn agreement that has been made between God and them. “You have obtained this agreement from Yahweh.” And the agreement is that he will be their God only as long as they “follow his ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, his customs, and listen to his voice”. It is a mutually binding contract. He will be their God on condition that they observe his laws and customs with all their heart and soul. If they do that, they will stand out among all peoples as a people consecrated to their God and outstanding in their virtue.

Several things here are exceedingly interesting. Here is the ratification, on the part of both parties, God and Israel; a ratification equivalent in every way with the solemn acceptance of God’s covenant in Exodus 24:7. This additional ratification was necessary for several reasons. First, a new generation was at hand. Secondly, Moses would die within a few days of this speech, and a new leader in the person of Joshua would be in charge of Israel’s affairs

But there is infinite tragedy here also one that will unfold over the pages of the Bible. When one considers the high and marvelous things that God promised this nation of Israel, on condition, of course, that they would indeed do what they had so solemnly sworn to do, and then when one considers the shame that ultimately overwhelmed this once glorious people, it brings a catch in the throat and tears to the eyes.

What really happened, afterward? Israel refused to exterminate the Canaanites, and to destroy their idols, their pillars, their groves, and all the false paraphernalia of their evil gods. They rejected God’s role over them, demanding a king like the surrounding nations. Their kings quickly led them into paganism. The nation was divided, and Ephraim usurped the place of God as the lawgiver for God’s people. The whole northern Israel became “joined to his idols.” Israel became merely another Canaanite (Hosea 12:7), just as crooked and evil as its earlier residents. God judged Israel and delivered them to the Assyrians, and northern Israel became the “Ten Lost Tribes.”

Lent has often become for us a time for ‘agreements’ with the Lord. Yet it is a covenant that the Lord desires with us not a contract. For many, Lent is a period of ‘good behaviour’ yet the Lord is looking for goodness in who we are. Let us continue to honour the love of the Lord not just for a season but for all and every reason.

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